Baby diapers

ABSTRACT

An article of manufacture comprising a diaper consisting of two united wings, each comprised of at least two overlaying sheets of a soft resilient material having a soft padding therebetween, said two united wings being disposed in end to end assembly to provide inwardly converging side edges for each wing and a narrow area adjacent the joinder area of said wings adapted to fit under the crotch of an infant, at least one of said wings having at least one partially overlaying sheet transversly attached thereto along at least one edge of said overlaying sheet, said overlaying sheet being comprised of a material having a planar width of at least approximately one and one-half times the width of the area of said wing to which said overlaying sheet is attached and being gathered along the stitched edge so as to provide a means for grasping it and to approximately conform to the said width of said wing.

llited States Patent [191 Sward Oct. 22, 1974 BABY DIAPERS [76]Inventor: Ruba J. Sward, 828 K, Galveston,

Tex. 79720 221 Filed: Apr. 19,1972

21 Appl.No.:245,322

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.650,569, June 28,

1967, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 128/284, 128/287 [51] Int. Cl. A6lf 13/16 [58] Field ofSearch 128/284, 287, 286

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,51 1,036 6/1950 Baxmeyer,et al. 128/284 2,832,346 4/1958 Morstad 128/287 2,866,459 l2/l958Sobelson 128/284 Primary ExaminerAldrich F. Medbery [5 7 ABSTRACT Anarticle of manufacture comprising a diaper consisting of two unitedwings, each comprised of at least two overlaying sheets of a softresilient material having a soft padding therebetween, said two unitedwings being disposed in end to end assembly to provide inwardlyconverging side edges for each wing and a narrow area adjacent thejoinder area of said wings adapted to fit under the crotch of an infant,at least one of said wings having at least one partially overlayingsheet transversly attached thereto along at least one edge of saidoverlaying sheet, said overlaying sheet being comprised of a materialhaving a planar width of at least approximately one and one-half timesthe width of the area of said wing to which said overlaying sheet isattached and being gathered along the stitched edge so as to provide ameans for grasping it and to approximately conform to the said width ofsaid wing.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BABY DIAPERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.650,569, filed June 28, 1967, now abandoned and relates to an improveddiaper for infants and particularly, the present invention is a diaperhaving the characteristic of better fitting, providing sexidentification means and of providing for more ready handling of saiddiaper when in contact with an infant.

Diapers are worn by infants of all races and religions and have followeda general pattern of illfitting garments having little or no surfaceattraction, and designed largely for simplicity of attachment andremoval. Additionally, such diapers frequently are the only garment wornby the infant and thus, with conventional diapers there is no readymeans of grabbing the infant without contact with the skin of the infantand the possibility of irritation to such skin by fingernails, roughskin, etc.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a diaper whichis designed to produce a minimum of undesirable body pressure on theinfant, so that it is not irritated and caused to cry or to annoy itsparents or nurse, and will rest in maximum comfort, and when in ahospital, hotel or other public place can be quickly and accuratelyidentified when a group of infants are brought to a common center, sothat there will be no confusion in identifying a wanted infant.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a diaper withmeans for identifying the infant wearer thereof according to the sex ofsaid infant.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a diaperwhich provides means for grasping or holding an infant wearer thereofwithout contact with the skin of said infant and further providingfacilitating means of holding said diaper when soiled or otherwise beinghandled by a nurse or parent.

Additional objects will become apparent from the following descriptionof the invention herein disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention which fulfills these andother objects is an article of manufacture comprising a diaperconsisting of two united wings, each comprised of at least twooverlaying sheets of a soft resilient material having a soft paddingtherebetween, said two united wings being disposed in end to endassembly to provide inwardly converging side edges for each wing and anarrow area adjacent the joinder area of said wings adapted to fit underthe crotch of an infant, at least one of said wings having at least onepartially overlaying sheet transversly attached thereto along at leastone edge of said overlaying sheet, said overlaying sheet being comprisedof a material having a planar width of at least approximately 1 timesthe width of the area of said wing to which said overlaying sheet isattached and being gathered along the stitched edge so as toapproximately conform to the said width of said wing.

The articles of manufacture which are the present invention, by means ofthe overlaying sheet, provide means for ready identification of the sexof the wearer. further, and of considerable significance, the presentinvention provides a means of grasping or holding the infant wearerwithout risk of contact with the tender skin of such infant and furtherprovides means for safely handling the diaper when soiled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the diaper of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of theimproved diaper of the present invention, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

FIG. 3 is a view of a girl infant showing a use of the improved diaper,particularly as to sex identification.

FIG. 4 is a detail plan view of a useful modification of the improveddiaper of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTIONReferring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the presentinvention, 10 designates the body of the garment which is constructedwith two wings 11 and 12, joined to each other along a central line 13,to provide a general hour-glass appearance, each wing having inwardlyconverging side edges 15a, so that the line 13 indicates the minimumwidth of the diaper, and is thus fitted to have a minimum bulk to engagethe flesh of the infant between the thighs and under the crotch.

The body 10 of the garment is constructed of two sheets of overlayingfabric which is soft and resilient being of cotton or otherwise, onesheet 14 forming the outer wall of the garment and the other sheet 15forming the underlying side to have contact with the body of the infant.The outer edges of sheets 14 and 15 are infolded and the infolded edgesstitched or otherwise fastened together to form a neatly closed edgeseam, as shown in FIG. 2. The sheet 14 may be printed or otherwiseprovided with numerous designs or patterns so that the garment is giventhe appearance and character of a particular sex, either male or female.

One wing 12 of sheet 14 is provided with three partially overlayingsheets 16, 17 and 18, each spaced a short distance longitudinally fromone another. Each of sheets 16, 17 and 18 are of a transverse planarwidth of at least 1 times the transverse width, of sheet 14 which itoverlays and to which it is attached. The sheets 16, 17 and 18 are eachattached along the upper edge thereof by stitching or otherwise to sheet14. The width of sheets 16, 17 and 18 are conformed to the width of thatportion of sheet 14 which they overlay by means of gathering the excesswidth of said sheets 16, 17 and 18 and including the upper edge of saidexcess in the stitched or fastened down upper edge of said sheets l6, l7and 18.

In a particularly useful embodiment of the present invention, sheets 16,17 and 18 are stitched or othewise fastened on one wing of sheet 14along both the upper and lower edges thereof. In such instance, thelongitudinal length of said overlaying sheet when flattened, is also atleast 1 /2 that of that portion of sheet 14 which it overlays. Thisembodiment results in a much more pronounced looping or gathering ofoverlaying sheets 16, 17 and 18 spaced from sheet 14 which is to providea raised portion much easier to grasp and more strongly attached tosheet 14. To further facilitate the utility of the diapers of thepresent invention, it is frequently desirable to stitch or otherwiseattach the end edges of sheets 16, 17 and 18 to the edges of sheet 14.

Another embodiment of the present invention contemplates the employmentof overlaying sheets on both portions of sheets 14 of wings 11 and 12.

Overlaying sheets 16, 17 and 18 provide means for identification by sexof the infant wearer. Additionally, these overlaying sheets provide anouter surface which may be readily grasped and held. This is significantin attempting to forceably restrain or move an infant without touchingthe infant itself. Also, this is significant in handling soiled diapers.

If desired, the diaper of the present invention may be padded by placingsoft cotton or other suitable absorbent material between sheets 14 andbefore the edges are seamed closed, as indicated at 25 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modification of the diapers of the presentinvention wherein a transparent plastic film envelope strip 26 is shownstitched to sheet 14 so as to provide an unattached longitudinalinfolded edge portion 27 with the outermost edge 28 of the envelopestrip stitched to the diaper. Under the unattached infolded edge 27 anidentification card 29 may be inserted.

What is claimed is:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a diaper consisting of twounited wings, each comprised of at least two overlaying sheets of a softresilient material having a soft padding therebetween, said two unitedwings being disposed in end to end assembly to provide inwardlyconverging side edges for each wing and a 'of said overlaying sheet.

narrow area adjacent the joinder area of said wings adapted to fit underthe crotch of an infant, means for grasping and holding the diapercomprising at least one of said wings having at least one additionalsheet partially overlaying a sheet portion of one of said wingstransversely thereof from edge to edge of the wing and attached theretoby stitching along at least one edge of said additional sheet, saidadditional overlaying sheet being comprised of a material having aplanar width across the width of said wing of at least approximately oneand one-half times said width of said wing to which said overlayingsheet is attached said additional overlaying sheet having a portionspaced from and unattached to said at least one wing by being gatheredalong the stitched edge so as to approximately conform to the said widthof said wing and define a grasping portion.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein said overlaying sheet is transverslyattached to said wing along both of its transverse edges.

3. The article of claim 1 wherein said overlaying sheet is attached tothe upper side of one of said wings.

4. The article of claim 1 wherein an overlaying sheet is attached toeach of said wings.

5. The article of claim 2 wherein said additional overlaying sheet isattached to said wing along all four edges

1. An article of manufacture comprising a diaper consisting of twounited wings, each comprised of at least two overlaying sheets of a softresilient material having a soft padding therebetween, said two unitedwings being disposed in end to end assembly to provide inwardlyconverging side edges for each wing and a narrow area adjacent thejoinder area of said wings adapted to fit under the crotch of an infant,means for grasping and holding the diaper comprising at least one ofsaid wings having at least one additional sheet partially overlaying asheet portion of one of said wings transversely thereof from edge toedge of the wing and attached thereto by stitching along at least oneedge of said additional sheet, said additional overlaying sheet beingcomprised of a material having a planar width across the width of saidwing of at least approximately one and one-half times said width of saidwing to which said overlaying sheet is attached said additionaloverlaying sheet having a portion spaced from and unattached to said atleast one wing by being gathered along the stitched edge so as toapproximately conform to the said width of said wing and define agrasping portion.
 2. The article of claim 1 wherein said overlayingsheet is transversly attached to said wing along both of its transverseedges.
 3. The article of claim 1 wherein said overlaying sheet isattached to the upper side of one of said wings.
 4. The article of claim1 wherein an overlaying sheet is attached to each of said wings.
 5. Thearticle of claim 2 wherein said additional overlaying sheet is attachedto said wing along all four edges of said overlaying sheet.